Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore the practices with logistics performance management in two textiles supply chains, and to identify the related best practices and barriers. Design/methodology/approach – The method is a multiple case study of two textiles supply chains with a special focus on the rarely addressed interface between the manufacturer and the retail chain. The retail chains represent one large, global retail chain and one Nordic, comparably smaller retail chain. This paper is primarily empirical and describes practices for logistics performance management. The analysis discusses and explains best practices and barriers for logistics performance managements in textiles supply chains. Findings – Differences were identified regarding practices, priorities and collaboration in the logistics performance management process. No textiles industry-specific practices were found. A way of exchanging action plans between the actors is an interesting best practice, which enables improvement projects even with long geographical distances. Barriers in the shape of difficulties in creating a collaborative culture were found; however, IT support seems no longer to be a barrier. Research limitations/implications – Two cases are explored, why a broader study is necessary to confirm the results. The best practices and barriers identified are similar to those known from manufacturing companies. Practical implications – The detailed descriptions of logistics performance management practices can provide insights for practitioners. Even if the studied supply chains are important for the respective actors, there is a potential for increased effectiveness in textiles supply chains. Originality/value – Supply chains for textiles products “starting at a manufacturer and ending in a retail chain” seem to be an unchartered territory and not many studies have been performed.

Research on inter-organizational supply chain interaction (IOSCI) for sustainability can be described as fast-growing and fragmented. It is uncertain to what extent logistics and supply chain management (SCM) literature has been able to close research gaps regarding e.g., empirical scope and sustainability dimensions addressed. A systematic literature review (SLR) is carried out to synthesize the existing knowledge and ongoing trends, and to propose a research agenda. The trend analysis shows that the gap between the environmental and social dimension is increasing, that Asian studies grow nearly exponentially, and that the focal firm perspective gains more ground. The research agenda calls for participatory studies of multiple actors and for studies addressing, e.g., the invisible logistics service providers. This study provides an important complement to existing literature reviews on sustainable supply chain interaction, primarily by its focus on the development over time, the empirical scope, the focus on publications in logistics/SCM journals, and its narrow focus on the interaction among firms in supply chains.

Purpose Sustainability approaches across product supply chains are well-known, while similar knowledge on transport supply chains (TSC) is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore sustainability approaches and managerial challenges in extending sustainability across a TSC. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a case study of a TSC with a shipper, a third-party logistics firm and a hauler. Each actor’s views on sustainability-related communication and relations with other TSC actors are analyzed through the lens of agency theory. Findings Each dyad in the TSC reveals different, more or less collaboration-based approaches. Challenges are revealed, including the lack of shipper understanding for the TSC context and the use of immature contracts, which disincentivizes sustainability compliance. The multi-tier study object reveals the silencing of distant actors and the need for actors to take on mediating roles to bridge information asymmetries. Research limitations/implications Combining literature perspectives (relations, communication and agency theory) provides a deeper understanding of the approaches applied and identifies different challenges. The inclusion of agency theory reveals principal problems such as information asymmetries between agents and less-informed principals and suggests complementary labels of supply chain actors. Practical implications Practical contributions include the highlighting of managerial challenges, which can aid managers in extending sustainability across TCSs. Social implications The case study method offers insights into collaboratively improving sustainability in supply chains (such as using contracts), thus having social and environmental implications. Originality/value The paper narrows knowledge gaps about managing sustainability among logistics service providers and analyzes data from multi-tier actors.